The late Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli (right) and the late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser (Getty-Archive)

An Arab union was officially announced on February 22, 1958 between the republics of Egypt and Syria, headed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, after President Shukri al-Quwatli abdicated the presidency. It ended on September 28, 1961, after a military coup in Syria led by Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Karim al-Nahlawi.

Before the unification between Syria and Egypt

Syria witnessed a military coup in 1954 against the rule of Adib al-Shishakli - who was the leader of the previous military coup - which led to a decline in the strength of the army in the country. Both Turkey and Iraq mobilized their forces on the border with Syria in August 1957, under the pretext of increasing the influence of the Union. Soviet in Syria.

In response, then-Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser sent some military units to Syria, which later led to the retreat of Turkish reinforcements on the border with Syria to avoid the outbreak of a regional war.

In November 1957, an Egyptian parliamentary delegation headed by Anwar Sadat visited the Syrian House of Representatives, which was headed by Akram Al-Hourani, after an invitation received by the Egyptians from the Syrians. At the conclusion of the joint session in the Syrian Parliament building, the two parties issued a statement calling for the establishment of a federal union between Syria and Egypt.

As for the military leadership in Syria, represented by the Military Council, its opinion was that the solution must be through complete unity between the two countries, and not just the formation of a federal union. After that, 14 Syrian officers led by Afif al-Barazi headed to Cairo on January 11, 1958, on board a plane. Military aircraft launched from Mezzeh Military Airport in Damascus.

The Syrian officers met with the Egyptian military commander Abdel Hakim Amer and informed him of their decision about the necessity of unity between Syria and Egypt. They also met with Abdel Nasser on January 15, without the knowledge of Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli, the Speaker of the Syrian Parliament, or even Defense Minister Khaled al-Azm.

Al-Quwatli (left) during his visit to Cairo to discuss with Abdel Nasser the formation of the United Arab Republic (Getty-Archive)

Unity between Syria and Egypt

After the Syrian President and the Minister of Defense learned of the visit of the Syrian officers the next day through the Director of General Intelligence, Abdul Hamid al-Sarraj, who was supportive of their move, President Shukri al-Quwatli sent Foreign Minister Salah al-Din al-Bitar, accompanied by the Egyptian ambassador to Damascus, Mahmoud Riyad, to join the Syrian officers in Egypt and follow up on their proposal regarding unity. Between the two countries.

Gamal Abdel Nasser set conditions for approving the unity proposed by the Syrian officers, which included dissolving all parties in Syria, withdrawing the army from political life, and giving Abdel Nasser absolute powers to rule.

He also insisted that the unit be fully integrated, based on the Syrian officers agreeing to the conditions and forcing the politicians to accept them.

Syrian President Shukri al-Quwatli traveled to Cairo on January 31, 1958, met with Abdel Nasser the next day, and they held a meeting to present the constitutional principles of the new state system.

Call for a referendum

After the meeting, the two presidents delivered a statement stating that the new state would have one flag, one legislative council, and its system of government would be presidential, provided that a popular referendum would be held in the two countries in order to approve the idea of ​​unity or not.

A popular referendum was held in the two countries, and the percentage of approval for unity, according to the Egyptian and Syrian media at the time, reached 99.98% of the total votes of participants in the referendum. Unity between the two countries was announced on February 22, 1958, under the name of the United Arab Republic, and Cairo was agreed upon as its capital, and it was taken as its capital. A flag containing the following colors horizontally in order: red, white, black, and in the middle of the white color are two green five-pointed stars.

The President of the United Republic, Gamal Abdel Nasser, went to Damascus after its announcement, and stayed there for two weeks to form the government of the Syrian country. It included Akram Hourani as Vice President, Khalil Kallas, Salah Bitar, Riyad Al-Maliki, Abdul Hamid Al-Sarraj, Amin Al-Nafouri, and Mustafa Hamdoun, in addition to A number of Baathists.

During the visit, Abdel Nasser announced a temporary constitution that included his absolute powers represented by his leadership of the armed forces, the appointment of ministers, dismissing them from their positions, and the appointment of his deputies. It also stipulated that the united republic consists of two regions: Egypt and Syria, and each of them has an executive council appointed by a decision of the President of the Republic.

Decisions and resignations

After the announcement of the unity constitution, Abdel Nasser issued several regulatory decisions for civil work and educational institutions in the United Republic. A large number of Syrian officers were also dismissed from the army, in addition to nationalization decisions that targeted banks, factories, and companies in Syria, as they were transferred from private ownership to state ownership.

These measures have led to a decline in the economic situation in the northern region (Syria), and the agricultural reform decisions have affected the primary source of income in Syria, which is work in agriculture, as farmers are no longer able to secure means of irrigation, seeds, and fertilizer.

These laws came in conjunction with arrest campaigns that began on January 3, 1959, targeting members of the communist parties in Syria. About 300 people were arrested, and the head of the Communist Party, Khaled Bakdash, fled to Iraq, while the communist leader, Faraj Allah al-Helu, was arrested and later died under torture.

On December 23, 1959, the Baathist ministers in the United Arab Republic government announced their resignation as a result of Abdel Nasser’s policies in Syria. Akram Hourani, Abdel Ghani Qanout, and Mustafa Hamdoun considered that their presence in the Executive Council was only formal, because the Council’s powers and competencies were not clearly defined. .

The political and military situation in Syria continued to be tense following the appointment of Egyptian Field Marshal Abd al-Hakim Amer as absolute ruler of Syria, which later led in December 1961 to the emergence of a sharp dispute between Abd al-Hakim Amer and Abd al-Hamid al-Sarraj, which led to al-Sarraj’s resignation despite Gamal Abd al-Sarraj’s attempts. Al-Nasir dissuaded him from his decision.

Nazim al-Qudsi, the Syrian president, after Syria’s separation from Egypt (social networking sites)

The end of unity with a military coup

On the morning of September 28, 1961, Damascus Radio broadcast a statement on behalf of the “Supreme Arab Command of the Armed Forces” in which it announced a coup against the United Arab Republic. It considered this an attempt at reform “before things exploded,” and said that it had found “no way but force to return it to the people.” "His freedom and the army has its dignity."

The coup was followed by a statement from former Syrian representatives and some party leaders and merchants demanding urgent elections and not issuing legislation until the parliament is formed, and they called for "the establishment of a democratic constitutional rule that achieves true socialism and comprehensive Arab unity."

The most prominent signatories of the statement were Salah Al-Bitar, Akram Al-Hourani, and Khaled Al-Azm, and an interim government was formed headed by Mamoun Al-Kuzbari, and he resigned when the date was set for the presidential and legislative elections that were held in December 1961, in which Nazim Al-Qudsi won the position of head of state, Marouf Al-Dawalibi as prime minister, and Mamoun Al-Kuzbari as head of the Council. Representatives.

Source: websites